Getiria Onsongo gave up a lot by studying in the U.S. He missed seeing his younger siblings grow up and couldn’t visit his family during holiday breaks. But immigrating has given him plenty of opportunities as well.

Dr. Onsongo was born in Nakuru, a city in mid-west Kenya. Getiria performed very well academically. After finishing high school, he planned to attend the local university. However, Geiria’s uncle spotted an advertisement for a scholarship to a university in India. Dr. Onsongo was intrigued, but his father was concerned that the advertisement was a scam. Fortunately, Getiria pursued the opportunity and was given a scholarship.

While attending UWC, Dr. Onsongo noticed that his peers were planning to continue their education in the U.S. He decided to do the same and chose to study at Macalester College. Adjusting to the U.S. was difficult. Getiria struggled to find much in common with his American peers, and his strong accent didn’t help. In time, he found his niche on campus. Currently, Dr. Onsongo is an informatics analyst at the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute. In addition to his career, he volunteers much of his time to a variety of nonprofit organizations, such as the Kenya Society for Academic Advancement. Dr. Onsongo is recently got married and resides in St. Paul, MN.